DiMarzio: Titan Review (Jake Bowen Signature Pickups!)

What a dream of a guitar and what fantastic pair of pickups. DiMarzio really nailed it this time, with a highly versatile and dynamic tonality from either pickup. The neck Titan felt a little lower in volume on the clean setting but the guitar wasn’t perfectly set up as I was too busy playing it to notice at first.

This video is one of my most beautiful, I think, and so I must thank Mr. Atlantis one more time for providing me with a second angle which definitely was inspiring to work with!

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Hey Paul. I have enjoyed many of your videos. Funny and informative . I wanted your advice because i purchased these pickups and so far they are horrible. Bridge pickup sounds weak with no sustain. Sounds very opposite of Djent but i watched you play something “appropriate” that was close to jakes rhythm sound. I get lots o djent from EMG81 SUHR DSV+ and dimarzio MoJoe. Can you share with me the patch you used so i can be sure these are actually titans? Maybe the custom shop made a mistake and wound the wrong ones? I really want to like these pickups They were a custom order. Black bobbins w black polepieces. Any advice? Thanks Paul.
Cheers. Desmond Tolhurst.
Ps. The other pickups get close to your periphery tone using Das Metal or FAS Modern.

Weak and no sustain? Well, there could be multiple factors to that. What ohmage is your pots? If they aren’t 500k, you’re definitely in trouble. If that doesn’t sort your problem, check everything in your signal chain twice, and if it still is weak and crummy, obviously you need to bug them about it.

I’m very surprised that you got such a result from the TItans. It’s a bit flabbergasting, really.

I can’t share the patch with you because it was from ages ago now and it was very customized specifically for that guitar and pickup setup, but I can tell you I used the Friedman HBE amp with a drive to give it a lot of grit and gain. Hopefully that helps! I would hate to know that they had such a QC screw up but I suppose anything is possible. All the best to you dude!

Thank you Paul for taking the time to advise me.
I checked the pots and they are 500k.i checked axe patch signal chain. Still no heavy tightness and weak sustain. Played several guitars thru the same patch and all other pickups sounded better. I will call my dealer. Maybe i got the wrong pickup somehow. Usually i dont use compressor blocks in patches but adding a compressor seemed to help the titan bridge. Did you have to use the comp block since Titan is supposed to be uncompressed. My Dimarzio Moe

Thank you Paul for taking the time to advise me.
I checked the pots and they are 500k.i checked axe patch signal chain. Still no heavy tightness and weak sustain. Played several guitars thru the same patch and all other pickups sounded better. I will call my dealer. Maybe i got the wrong pickup somehow. Usually i dont use compressor blocks in patches but adding a compressor seemed to help the titan bridge. Did you have to use the comp block since Titan is supposed to be uncompressed. My Dimarzio Moe Joe sounds closer to what i’d expect the titan bridge to sound like. Same EQ curve with alnico instead of ceramic. I will call my rep to have the pickup tested by Dimarzio, They should be able to test it to be sure it’s right.
Thanks again, will let you know what happens.
Cheers,
Dez.

I had to let the titans go. They were made for Jake so i guess since he is the ambient playerwith lots of effects he needs lower output and lower compression. I replaced them with Seymour Duncan Alpha Omegas wound by MJ at the custom shop. These are more like it. The best passives i have ever played. I also like the kiesel lithiums in my other axe. Both these sets eat the titans alive. You should do a comparison between titans and alphas. Its night n day.
Cheers Paul.